Stay Here Forever
by Music and Angels
Summary: Spencer and Toby are celebrating Valentine's Day together at the Hastings' lake house, and love is in the air. By night's end, all the couple wants to do is stay forever in each other's arms. Happy February 14th!


"We're here…" Spencer rasped as she pulled into the Hastings' lake house's driveway. She was celebrating the rare occasion that Toby let her take charge of his truck (his 'second love', as he once eloquently put it).

Despite the fact that it had been a gift from Spencer, Toby made sure that she knew how imperative the truck was to him, and being an OCD sufferer herself, she respected his affinity for the vehicle and ignored his incessant need to: A) be the sole controller of its steering wheel, and B) inspect the truck weekly and resupply it with new bungee cords and jumper cables when necessary. Spencer found that it was better not to question him, like how Toby didn't say anything when she insisted upon stripping her closet bare and reorganizing by a different theme each month.

'Colors, fabrics, sizes, article… isn't this fun?' She'd included him in this venture once, teasing Toby to his blatant unawareness. 'Um, yeah…" He'd stammered, all the while wondering how their kids were going to fare when they didn't make their beds!

Back at the lake house, Toby smirked, his arm moving to wrap around Spencer's shoulders. "Funny. I never pinned you as the type to get all sappy on this day of days. Did I completely misjudge?"

"No," Came her immediate, sharp reply. Smiling sheepishly, Spencer explained, "I'm merely jubilant over not having driven this truck into the lake the way you were hyperventilating! This is just a normal, mid-month celebration to boost the sales of poorly made stuffed animals whose filling will promptly seep out of the ears once the tag is removed."

Toby leaned over to kiss her temple as she blushed lightly, fiddling with the cars' mirror absentmindedly. "I didn't say I didn't appreciate the break from your cynicism," he joked.

Struck by a thought, Spencer inquired, "What did you have me pinned as?" She was all too quick to add, "Not that I care about the views of others, but for curiosity's sake?"

"Before or after you thought I was the devil?"

The girl was downright horrified. The frozen look of panic on her face obstructed Spencer from responding, so Toby just laughed at her misery.

"Um, Spence?" He began gently, becoming serious again. "I was kidding. And for the record? I always saw you as misunderstood. An adult forced in an angel's body. You were always—are still—so smart and mature, but you never looked like you had any fun! But there was this mystery to you…I don't know, I can't place it." Toby was becoming flustered with his monologue, so decided to quit while he was ahead.

Spencer handed Toby back his keys, letting her hand linger longer on his than it normally would. Even after a year of being together, the spark still remained in their relationship. She still felt static when they touched, and got nervous at the promise of meeting him somewhere.

Their eyes connected in a deep, intense gaze. She fell into a sparkling, blue sea; he, a riveting chocolate river reminiscent of Willy Wonka's in a movie that Spencer had once described to him.

She cleared her throat. "We should go unpack before we're cubes of ice huddling by the fireplace, too set in stone to walk upstairs and change."

The two escaped the truck, Toby giving his 'second love' a longing glance before helping Spencer tote duffel bags into the house.

It was Valentine's Day, the first one that the couple had been able to spend together. The previous year had rendered Spencer sick with a nasty virus, and while Toby would have been more than willing to participate in mending her, he was called away last minute to replace someone on a construction site after they'd fallen off a ladder. To secure his job, he'd had to (reluctantly) fill in.

Thankfully, the holiday that year fell on a Friday night, so Spencer and Toby were free to hold festivities all night long and into the next day. Veronica had seen a light and motioned to change her cold, parenting ways once she realized that her daughter had been on death's edge more than once, and had offered the two to use the lake house for the weekend.

Once settled into the house and relieved of their sizeable bags, Spencer had led Toby to the living room, where they plopped down on the couch in front of the fire—him sitting over to one side and a pillow in his lap, her resting her head on the pillow/Toby and lying down, her feet propped up on the other end of the couch.

They lay in the still of the silence for a few minutes, drinking in the solace they found in one another. Spencer sighed contentedly, her head sinking in to meld with Toby's leg through the thin pillow.

He stroked her hair, unable to take his eyes off of her flawless beauty. From the dimple on her chin (a feature they both shared), to the perfect curvature of her smooth lips, to the dazzling mocha eyes that he wouldn't trade for the world—he wouldn't trade _her _for the world.

Out of the blue she spoke, her chin tilting upwards in an attempt to join their glances. "Do you want to watch a movie now?"

"Sure, babe. Do you want me to get the…?" Toby let his words hang in the air, filling up the space that the awkward silence had created. He didn't really want to make her move so he could retrieve the DVD player they'd brought, nor did he want her to move off of him, but after that there were no longer alternative options.

Spencer quickly shook her head no, sitting up and trying to smooth her hair down, now frizzy from the pillow's pressure. "No, I'll get it. Do you want to start the fire?"

It was later at night since they'd had to leave Rosewood after Spencer dealt with her school day, and as the light dimmed down the temperature had gone with it. While it wasn't snowing, flurries and patches of white powder could be seen dotting the paling grass outside and icicles had begun to form on rocks along the highway.

Toby responded, "of course. I'll open up some blankets, too. You look chilly." His statement elicited momentary panic from Spencer.

She thrust her head down, searching for signs of goose bumps. "How can you tell?" She demanded. "What's my dead giveaway?"

Chuckling, he said, "It's February and you're wearing a skirt. That's…implicit." Though she was impressed with his use of literary terms and vocabulary, Spencer still had to defend her fashion choice.

"Hey!" She argued, feigning offense. "First of all, wise guy, I dressed this way for _you_! And second, do you see these?"

Gesturing at her covered legs, she continued, "Stockings, tights, whatever you'd like to call them…I'm only cold because I have a fast metabolism," Spencer concluded, folding her arms across her chest.

Toby started the fire, dazed and confused after their one-sided debate, but that's how he always felt around her. Spencer turned him into a jumbled mess inside—the one person capable of making him lose his ever-present cool façade, and in turn he was the one boy who could stop her in her rambling tracks, completely rendering the opinionated girl speechless.

Soon enough she came bounding back down the stairs, a DVD player and CD case in her thin arms. "Now I wouldn't be too excited about these movies. They're—from Hanna," She cringed, for one had already fallen out of the case and Toby had picked it up, reading the title while his eyebrows shot up in shock.

"Um, she might want to save this one for Caleb…" he mused, gingerly setting it on top of a nearby table and refusing to look at it again. He relieved Spencer of the CD case and began to flip through it.

That night he was playing the part of the joker, it seemed. "Oh, what a thrilling romance story! Romeo and Juliet to celebrate this festival of love?" Unfortunately for Toby, he'd not counted on Spencer's eyes lighting up in delight as she prepared to deliver a full on Shakespearean soliloquy. Luckily, he was able to stop her before she leapt into her dramatic role.

She appeared hurt. "I worship that story! It's one of the finest examples of irony ever written—one of the most tragic love stories ever introduced to this century! Although," Suddenly, she frowned. "I see your point. I guess two suicides aren't quite apt for a romantic night on Valentine's Day…"

Toby nodded curtly, smiling. He turned to the next disc, which was appropriately titled, _Valentine's Day_.

Spencer yanked her hands off of the DVD as if it consisted of poisonous snakes. "No, no, and no. Over my dead body will we waste 125 minutes of our lives mindlessly glued to a screen while Ashton Kutcher mentally has an affair with Jennifer Garner and Taylor Swift giggles like a lovesick elementary school girl with a crush on the class clown while she flips her hair like someone intoxicated from helium! Absolutely not, Toby—it's non-negotiable."

Taken aback, her boyfriend struggled to put himself in her perspective. "You seem relatively familiar with this movie…do I want to know?"

"I may or may not have seen it a handful of times…" she replied sheepishly, twisting a lock of her hair absentmindedly.

Toby snickered. "Admit it. Spencer Hastings _loves _cheesy, sappy, fluffy movies with A-list celebrities. I even suspect that you don't hate this day as much as you purport to," he said, feigning a gasp. "No! Can the cold-hearted girl who would commit arson to get into a quality law school have a secret attraction to pink hearts and candy-grams?"

Those were fighting words, and Toby gulped as he saw the murderous look on his girlfriend's face. In an enraged tone she retorted, "Valentine's Day is a scam to sell cards, stuffed animals, and1.6 billion dollars worth of candy. Did you know that 51 percent of this holiday's purchases are confection? It's only second to Halloween! I see no reason why everyone should have an excuse for PDA and migraine-inducing shades of fuchsia. Besides, it's a complete act of seclusion—it's degrading to single, independent women—and men, of course—who happen to be without a significant other in the middle of February! Did I mention flowers yet? Because while girls go around, flaunting the fact that they have boyfriends and a pregnancy bump to prove it, why not just add a massive bouquet of soon-to-be dead roses to hurt the girls who have nothing but cats!"

Silence ensued for a moment as Spencer's biting words hung in the air. Awkwardly, trying to make light of the situation, Toby laughed. "Guess I should give away the flowers I hid in the trunk, then?"

In an instant, Spencer's mood changed from oppressed feminist to loving girlfriend. "No," she crooned, her voice an octave higher than it had been a minute ago. "I'm sorry, baby. I take back what I said about this day, I just couldn't let you have the satisfaction of being right. But…" she sighed dramatically, "you are. There is something unnervingly appealing about a made-up holiday to celebrate romance. Especially," She added, her tone becoming seductive, "if I'm here. With you. Alone."

An hour and fifteen minutes later Toby was controlling a teary Spencer, who had broken down watching Julia Roberts' character reunite with her son. She was on a break from the military and had made it back for Valentine's Day to be with her family, so it was especially heartwarming and emotional.

"Promise me you'll never do something that dangerous," Spencer sniffed, her face buried in the warm fabric of Toby's shirt. Unbeknownst to her, he smiled and cradled her neck to his chest.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he affirmed, taking a red rose out of the vase he'd placed next to Spencer at the start of the movie and weaving it intricately into her hair. The contrast of the paleness of her face and the intensity of her eyes, combined with the darkness of her hair and the startling vibrancy of the red rose made her look angelic—at least to her admiring boyfriend.

Once the movie had ended and Spencer was done with making snarky comments about sexism and unfaithfulness (the one crime she had to avoid in her rant was a student/teacher relationship, because, well: Aria), Toby took the remote and flicked the TV screen from illuminated to black.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He chided, knowing that she would be irritated at his question.

Surprisingly, she was calmer now, still unnoticeably weepy over the contents of _Valentine's Day _but much more polished than he would've assumed. She didn't answer, but it looked as though she were in deep thought pondering a way to phrase something.

"Um, why the chick-flick, Toby?" She blurted. "I mean, not that you're not incredibly masculine and all, but I had you pinned as someone who watches action and adventure movies while lifting weights. How come you're more into this whole fiasco than I am?" She seemed genuinely puzzled, like this were a math equation that the all-knowing Spencer finally could not solve.

"I love you," was his answer, as he took her hand and led the girl up to their bedroom. On the bed by a pillow was a wooden box sanded into the shape of a heart. It had turquoise and blue beads glued to the lid forming an 'S'. Next to, Spencer noted as she examined closer, was a single candy heart that said _Be Mine_.

Dumbfounded, she wrapped Toby in the tightest hug someone of her stature could muster. "I love you, so much, I can't even—how did you?" But she couldn't formulate words. He motioned for her to open it, and gingerly, Spencer sat on the bed to retrieve what was inside of the receptacle.

"Did you make this? For me?" It was a rhetorical question—of course he'd made it, he handcrafted everything, and whom else would the gift be for?

Toby smiled, nodding slightly. "Go on," he urged in a whisper.

As Spencer unhinged the two beautiful carved pieces of wood a gasp escaped her lips.

Like he was reading her mind, he confirmed, "It was my mother's. When I was a kid, most of the advice that my dad gave me was worthless. But there's one thing that he said that was pure genius. He said, 'if you're ever with a girl that's too good for you, make sure you treat her right.' He was right. Spencer, I know you don't have dreams of fairytales like some girls do, but I wanted to let you know how special you are to me. This might be our first Valentine's Day together, but I won't let it be our last. You're the most stunning, breathtaking person I've ever seen—also the smartest and most caring and hardworking. Spence, pardon the tackiness that you hate, but…be mine?"

Spencer's eyes were stinging, and now just because she'd been gawking at the ornament inside of the box, but because the realization of how lucky she was had just struck her. On a bed of sea foam colored tissue paper was a bronze heart locket. Although it was from his mother's youth, the chain was till intact. She fingered the metal adornment and bit back tears.

When she was able to speak again, her only response was, "Yes. And I'll always be yours."

As though suddenly exhausted the couple collapsed onto the bed, their fingers intertwined. No words were necessary—Spencer and Toby merely gazed into each other's eyes and worshipped one another, silently. Eventually, Toby leaned down and kissed Spencer's forehead gently, and a wave of guilt washed over her.

"Toby," She whispered, still not wanting to break the fragility of the moment. "I only got you on thing."

He appeared shocked, like he hadn't anticipated anything more than her presence! "You didn't have to get me anything at all. You gave me my first and second loves," he smiled, referring to Spencer herself and the truck she'd given him.

Without replying, Spencer pulled out a basket from under the bed they would share that night. Sheepishly, she handed him the basket.

She had lied, there were many things in the basket—more than one. A hardcover copy of Catcher in the Rye was joined by two opposing bags. One contained, to Toby's excitement, chocolate covered marshmallow peeps modeled after hearts just for the holiday, and the other held a strange assortment of fruits.

"Honey, I love you very much, but I've seen your cabinets. Balance, Toby." She seemed relieved now that she'd given the present to him, and he hugged her on the bed. They lied on top of the sheets—Spencer tracing shapes lightly on Toby's arms in no particular rhythm and he twirling the rose still in her hair—for a good five minutes before deciding to change for bed.

"I'll be in the bathroom," the Hastings announced, her voice cracking with a gentle sincerity.

Toby had more tricks up his sleeve, still. When Spencer walked back into the bedroom in a loose V-neck and a pair of leggings, she was greeted by her boyfriend, sans shirt, sitting on the floor leaning up against a cushioned ottoman at the foot of the bed.

Before she could inquire as to his intentions, Toby explained himself. "A little birdy told me that you used to need to listen to lullabies or music every night to go to sleep."

"Aria…" She grumbled, through clenched teeth. When Toby gave her a puzzled look as to say 'how did you know it was her?' she merely replied, "little. The girl's a midget. I love her, but she's legally a midget."

Toby cleared his thought and continued. "I was thinking about that and than I realized that we never watched the credits at the end of our movie. I think we missed a very vital song," he teased.

Spencer furrowed her brow, skeptically, when it occurred to her. "You know which songs are in the credits? So you _have _seen this movie before!" She cried. "Why did you want to—oh, never mind that."

Without an introduction, Toby pulled Spencer in beside him and his bare chest and she cuddled into him like an infant. He began to sing, his heavenly voice much more quiet than usual when he sang, for this was intimate—only for he and his valentine.

_'Cause if you wanna go, Baby, let's go  
If you wanna rock, I'm ready to roll  
And if you wanna slow down:  
We can slow down together_

_If you wanna walk, Baby, let's walk  
Have a little kiss, have a little talk  
We don't got to leave at all_

_We can stay here forever  
Lay here forever, oh  
Let's stay here forever—  
Stay here forever, oh!_

As she drifted off to sleep on Toby's shoulder, Spencer thought to herself that maybe, just maybe, Valentine's Day had its redeeming qualities, and that this was something she could absolutely get used to.

*** Happy Valentine's Day to those it may concern & thank you so much for reading! I'm no longer watching Pretty Little Liars, so sincerest apologies if I made any glaring errors. I hastened to finish the ending, therefore I'm also sorry if it's a little choppy. I may upload a more refined version later.**

***Also, I do not own PLL, the song ****Stay Here Forever**** by Jewel, or the movie **_**Valentine's Day.**_

***Please do review, so that I know whether or not these one-shots are sparking any Spencer/Toby interest! :)**


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